Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department is taking steps to ensure that online platforms [operating in the UK] provide (a) cost- and (b) time-efficient takedown processes for [(a) designers and (b) other content creators] whose copyrighted (a) designs and (b) other products have been infringed on their platforms.

The UK approaches the challenge of tackling online IP infringement in an integrated manner through enforcement and public education. There is in place a number of criminal, civil, administrative and voluntary initiatives which provide rights holders and law enforcement with a package of measures to use to tackle online infringement. These vary from relatively non-intrusive such as notice and takedown, to domain removal, website blocking via court orders, police intervention, and more intrusive initiatives such as notifications being sent to repeat infringers.

The IPO has published guidance on how rights holders can protect their intellectual property on e-commerce stores, such as Amazon and eBay.